Prompt library
Copy-and-adapt prompts for Claude Code, grouped from discovery through to operations, plus the patterns that make any prompt work better.
These are prompts I actually use, tidied up so you can paste them and swap in your own details. Anything in <angle brackets> is a placeholder. They are grouped by the stage of work they help with, not by job title: product managers, designers and ops engineers get as much out of the "understand" prompts as developers do.
Once a prompt works well for your project, make it repeatable: save it as a skill so the team can run it as a /command, and put whatever Claude had to learn into CLAUDE.md.
Some prompts need extra setup
A few prompts assume Claude can reach something outside the repository:
| Marker | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Tracker | Your issue tracker connected as a claude.ai connector or an MCP server |
| GitHub | The gh CLI signed in, or GitHub connected as a connector |
| Browser | A way to render and screenshot pages: the desktop app preview, Claude in Chrome, or a Playwright MCP server |
| Data | Your warehouse or log store connected as a connector or MCP server |
Understand
First look at a repo
walk me through this codebase: what it does, the main folders, and how a request flows through it
Explain one module, in the format you need
explain what <src/sync/conflict-resolver.ts> does and where its inputs come from. present it as <a single HTML page with a sequence diagram, and open it in my browser>
Find where something happens
where do we <decide whether a user can see another team's projects>?
Check the blast radius
if I removed <the legacyPriceFormatter function>, what would break? list every caller and test
Learn the history
read the git history for <lib/rate_limit.rb> and tell me how it got to its current shape and why
Size up a change (handy for PMs and designers)
which files would need to change to <let users export reports as Excel files>? rough effort for each
Follow a user action end to end
I'm a <product designer>. explain in plain language what happens when a user <presses "Archive project">, from the button to the database and back
Plan and design
Plan without touching anything
plan how to <split the notifications service out of the monolith>. list the files you'd change and in what order. don't edit anything yet
Write a spec by interview
I want to build <team-level spending limits>. ask me questions one at a time about behaviour, UX, edge cases and trade-offs until nothing is left open, then write the spec to <docs/specs/spending-limits.md>
Turn notes into tickets (Tracker)
read <@notes/2026-10-02-planning.md>, pull out every action item, and create a ticket in <Linear> for each with acceptance criteria and an owner if one was named
Enumerate the states a design must cover
list every empty, loading, error and edge-case state the design for <the invite-teammates flow> needs to handle
Mockup to clickable prototype
here's a mockup [paste image]. build a clickable prototype that matches the layout and shows each state
Build from a screenshot and self-check (Browser)
implement this design [paste image]. then screenshot your result, compare it with the original and fix the differences until they match
Build
Copy an existing pattern
study how <the Stripe webhook handler> is built, then build <a GoCardless webhook handler> the same way, including tests
Small, well-defined endpoint
add a <GET /api/status> endpoint that returns <the deployed commit SHA and database connectivity>
Work an issue end to end (GitHub)
read issue #<418>, implement a fix, run the relevant tests and tell me what you changed
Quick internal tool
build a <one-page tool that turns a CSV of timesheets into a weekly summary table> using plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, then open it in my browser
Change copy everywhere, carefully
find every occurrence of "<Book a demo>" or close variants, show me each in context, then change them to "<Talk to sales>". leave tests and the changelog untouched
Draft from existing examples
read the <incident reports> in <docs/incidents/> to learn their structure and tone, then draft one for <yesterday's queue backlog outage>
Add missing docs
find <exported functions in packages/core> without <TSDoc> comments and add them, matching the style already used in each file
Test
Write, run, fix
write tests for <app/services/refunds.py>, run them, and fix any failures. tell me if a failure looks like a real bug rather than a bad test
Tests first
write failing tests for <the password strength meter> first, then implement it until they pass
Raise coverage to a target
read <coverage/coverage-summary.json> and add tests to the least-covered files until each is above <85>%
Refactor and optimise
Codebase-wide migration
migrate everything from <moment.js> to <date-fns>: find every usage first and show me the list, then make the changes and run the tests
Port between languages
port <this Go package> to <TypeScript>, keeping the same <public API and test cases>
Hit a measurable target
get <the dashboard's initial load> from <3.4s> to under <1.5s>. measure before and after, and explain each change
Precise visual fix
on <a 390px wide screen>, the <price badge> overflows the <product card> by about <12px>. fix it without changing the desktop layout
Review
Before you commit
review my uncommitted changes and flag anything risky, untested or inconsistent with the rest of the codebase
A teammate's pull request (GitHub)
review PR #<1093>: summarise what it changes, then list concerns ordered by severity
Infrastructure plans
here's my <terraform plan> output [paste]. explain in plain English what will change and flag anything destructive or surprising
Security pass in isolation
use a subagent to review <services/auth/> for security problems and report only findings with a concrete exploit path
Content before it goes out
review <press-release.md> for <claims we can't back up, missing attributions and off-brand wording> and list what to fix before it goes to <legal>
Steer
Redirect
that's not what I need: <the public method signatures must not change>. try a different approach
Narrow the scope
too much. keep only the changes to <the CSV parser> and revert everything else you edited
Make a correction stick
you keep <adding default exports when this project uses named exports>. add a rule to CLAUDE.md so it stops happening
Ship
Merge conflicts
resolve the merge conflicts on this branch and explain, file by file, what you kept from each side
Commit
commit this with a message that explains why the change was needed, not just what changed
Ticket to pull request (Tracker)
find the ticket about <bulk-deleting archived invoices> in <Jira> and open a pull request that implements it
Release notes
compare <v3.8.0> with <main> and draft release notes grouped into features, fixes and breaking changes, written for customers
CI workflow
write a GitHub Actions workflow that <runs lint, type checks and tests, then builds the Docker image> on every push to <main>
Operate
Failing test
<test_invoice_totals_with_vat> is failing. find out why and fix the cause
Reported problem
customers are reporting <duplicate confirmation emails> on <the checkout flow>. investigate and tell me what's happening before changing anything
Build error
here's the build error [paste]. fix the root cause and confirm the build passes
Incident triage
<API error rate jumped to 8% at 14:20>. check the logs, recent deploys and config changes, then give me the most likely cause and how sure you are
Console screenshot
this is a screenshot of <the AWS ECS console> [paste]. explain why <the worker service> keeps restarting and give me the exact commands to fix it
Plain-English log queries (Data)
show me every <failed login> for <the acme tenant> over <the last 48 hours>. write the query, run it and tell me what looks unusual
Analyse a data file
read <@exports/churn-q3.csv>, summarise the main patterns and write the findings to <reports/churn-q3.md>
Generate variations from performance data
read <@ads/october.csv>, find the worst-performing <headlines> and write <8> new options under <40> characters each
Automate
Recurring task to skill
create a /<prepare-release> skill for this project that <bumps the version, updates CHANGELOG.md from merged PRs and opens a release PR>
Hook
write a hook that <runs ruff format on the file> after every <edit or write>
Connect a system
connect <our Sentry project> through MCP so you can read <issues and stack traces> directly
Capture what was learned
summarise what we did this session and suggest what should go into CLAUDE.md
Why these prompts work
Every prompt above leans on a handful of habits. Learn them and you can adapt anything here.
Describe the result, not the route. Say what you want and let Claude find the files.
add request logging with correlation IDs to every API route and keep the existing tests green
Build in a check. Words like run, test, compare and verify make Claude iterate instead of stopping at its first attempt. To check a finished change against the running app, use /verify (see skills).
write the migration, apply it to the local database and confirm the table looks right
Point at an example. Naming an existing file or pattern keeps new code consistent with old.
build the billing settings page with the same layout and form components as the profile page
Give a number. For performance, size or coverage goals, state the metric and the threshold so "done" is unambiguous.
cut the JavaScript bundle below 250 KB and list what you removed
Hand over the evidence. Paste errors, logs, screenshots and plan output, or reference a file with @. Claude reads the real thing rather than your summary.
why did the deploy fail? @logs/deploy-2026-10-07.txt
Say how you want the answer. Format, length and audience all matter. If you always want the same shape, set an output style.
explain how session refresh works as a one-page HTML explainer with a diagram, aimed at a new backend developer
Best practices goes deeper on each of these. For risky or wide-reaching changes, start in plan mode (permission modes) so you see the file list before anything is edited. If you are rolling Claude Code out across a team, admin setup and costs are the next stops.